Switchable roller finger followers, including an inner body, outer body, lost motion spring, and latching mechanism are well known. For example, known rocker arms and switchable roller finger followers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,769,387; 6,889,644; 5,655,490; 8,627,796; 9,115,607; 9,140,148; and 8,215,275, U.S. Pubs. 2013/0186358 and 2012/0097123; EP Pub. 2914820; and PCT Pub. WO 2015/171688.
Known switchable roller finger followers are generally relatively expensive to manufacture due to precise design requirements and a relatively high number of sub-components. Switchable roller finger followers also typically have a high mass moment of inertia, which has a detrimental effect on the associated valve train dynamics and loads. Valve stem pallets, i.e. the portion of a switchable roller finger follower that engages an associated valve stem, are typically fixed in position and can experience excessive wear in localized areas.
An improved and compact valve stem pallet would be desirable that does not experience the excessive wear typically experienced by known valve stem pallets, and is less complex to manufacture.